Life after the fall of panem

35

Chapter 35

I hug him. "Woah !" He cringes in pain. "Sorry , I'm just so happy to see you moving around and not laying in the bed." I smile . I can't hold it in, "Oh Haymitch!" I hug him softer this time. He puts his arm around me. "Alright sweetheart, let's get down to business." He chuckles then becomes serious. Annie stands. "Would you guys like to be alone?" "It's up to you. But if you know anything and you get caught by them , they'll probably want to know." Haymitch tells her. "But you can stay if you want to." He finishes. "No, I better leave you guys then, my son needs me." She smiles and I walk her out. 'My son needs me.' Her words repeat in my head. She sacrificed knowing what the people, responsible for her husbands death, are doing to protect her son. I'd want to know, right now I wouldn't think about the well being of my child. If they killed Peeta I'd want to know everything. I need to learn the motherly, protective instinct because I don't know what I'd do if I was Annie. Then I think about Prim, I didn't protect her so much like a mother... Did I? More like a big sister should. And I did. Right? It wasn't motherly. By this time , I'm so lost in my thoughts Haymitch is snapping his finger in my face to bring me back to reality. "Sorry. Continue." I say. "Golde obviously knows Gale is gone. It's been what more than 2 weeks since Gale kid napped you?" "I'd say more than 12 days because I don't know how many days I was out before I woke up in that cell." I add. Haymitch, Peeta and I are sitting at the dinning room table. We must've moved when I was thinking about Annie. "Cell..." Peeta whispers. "Cell.." He says again. "Oh no." I stand and pull Haymitch into the living room with me. "CELL! Ahh! YOU NASTY MUTT! And you ! YOU LYING, CHEAP, ALCOHOLIC MONSTER !" Peeta screams , pointing his finger at us. "Peeta stop , it's okay, it's me Haymitch, and you wife, Kat-" Haymitch starts before he's interrupted by Peeta. "NO NO NO ! SHES NOT MY WIFE ! SHES A MUTT ! AHHHH!" He runs at us screaming, determined to kill us. Who is going to defend us? Haymitch has stitches in his ribs and I'm pregnant. Haymitch puts his hands out to slow him down, "Katniss run!" Haymitch yells. I take off, unlock the basement doors and run behind the love seat. I hear things falling on the ground and Peeta and Haymitch screaming, "Peeta stop !... Peeta!" I'm crying. It's been so long since he's done this. He's so good at controlling the flashbacks. 'Oh Peeta..' That's when the bathroom door opens. My mouth drops. I forgot Gale was here. I feel like I'm going to throw up. He smiles and advances toward me. After his first step, I screamed with complete terror and regret. "KATNISS!" Peeta yells. The basement door is pulled open and Peeta runs down the stairs and tackles Gale before he reaches me. Haymitch, not far behind him, grabs my arm and pulls me up the stairs. Peeta is left wrestling with Gale on the basement floor. "Peeta !" I scream. He punches Gale and takes off up the stairs at us. He slams the door shut and locks every lock. He turns around with his back leaning on the door, his head looking up, eyes closed. I stand half behind Haymitch. "Peeta." I whispers with my choking tears.